EDUC-7103 Leading and ManagingEducational Technology Dr. Timothy Powell Walden University May 20, 2011
Improving Westest Scores throughTechnology Gilbert Elementary School ExecutiveSummary Since technology is a word defining almost everything around us, it makes our lives easier. It also provides us with easy, more effective solutions to everyday living. Without technology,we could not communicate quickly, find important information, and many things we take for granted. The internet is an ocean of information, which is at our hands at all times. Through the internet, the world can be better brought to our students providing schools benefits for higher education. It lays a strong foundation of a successful professional life of an individual. Through technology, learning is always present to be enjoyable when integrated into classroom and learning. With technology we as professionals, can and do provide a desired performances needed for the success of all our students. Technology will provide higher test scores, enjoyable learning, and offer a successful professional life of an individual. Technology has many benefits. Let us all prosper from the benefits together.
Problem Summary The expectation of the West Virginia Department of Education is for all teachers to incorporate 21st century learning skills within the next five years. In order to satisfy this objective each county is to implement the technology training needed to enhance the WestVirginia CSO’s. The state of West Virginia has developed a new Westest. The test was first implemented in 2009. Mingo County had very few schools that completed the test due to a major flood that closed the schools for the remainder of the 2009 school year; because of the closure, the school has limited test data available. The only test data in which they have available is the 2009-2010 school year. Westest 2 is more rigorous in Math and Reading. The new test is designed toward higher level thinking skills. The state feels that students can perform better with the use of technology. They also feel technology is the backbone behind the new skills. The state wants every teacher to use technology in order to help the students increase their test scores. The teachers at Gilbert Elementary need to increase their use of technology in order to help bring the test scores up of the Low Economic Students. The school has Smartboards, Elmo’s, and LCD projectors in each classroom, as well as four computers per classroom. The school also has two computer labs plus two mobile labs. The teachers in the upper grades are more willing to use this technology, but the teachers in the lower grades feel as if they need to have more training in the use of technology in order to incorporate it within their curriculum Overall, the school would like to increase the training of the teachers so they will be comfortable using the technology as well as teach our parents the importance of the use of technology at home. The school will be offering monthly training to the teachers in order to help motivate on use of education sites and technology available in the school. Backgroundof Organization Gilbert Elementary was constructed in 1951 and opened as Gilbert High School. A new addition was added to the school in 1964. The building was later changed to Gilbert Junior High and then to Gilbert Middle School. Renovations were done on the building in 2003, which included the addition of a new wing containing four new classrooms, a new computer lab, a new kitchen and cafeteria and a new office area. In addition, each classroom was given a new air conditioning unit. In 2004, Gilbert Grade School, Cline Grade School and two grade levels of Gilbert Middle School were merged into what is now Gilbert Elementary. In 2007, an old shower room was turned into a classroom for the Special Needs students and in 2009 after the flood and extensive rebuilding was completed on the school. The school is located on School Road, Gilbert, West Virginia. The school has a population of 437 students and of those students, 67% are living in poverty. The website ofthe school is http://www.gilbertelementary.us/and the county website: http://mingoboe.us/. The annual reports are located on the county site. Stakeholders and Decision-Makers. Key People Affect: Teachers Students Parents Administrators Community Key People that make decisions: Phyllis White, Principal Donna England, Assistant Principal Title 1 StaffKey Personnel: Donna Ellis, Reading Specialist LuAnn Browning, Technology Specialist Patrick Billups, County MediaSpecialist Actual Current Performance. After examining trend information from previous Westest and Benchmark data, the school feels they need to focus on the Low Economic Students in math and reading/language arts skills. The Special needs students are also a concern and will continue to have needs addressed in Tier interventions. Westest2 scores shows low performance in math with the score of 37% and read/languagearts score of 39% within the low economic area. Westest 2 was implemented in 2009, the scores in math fell. The students who were making mastery on Westest 1 were now making part-mastery. If the scores keep, falling Gilbert Elementary will not make AYP this year. Desired Performance: Gilbert Elementary Schools will increase academic performancein writing and all reading/language art skills. They will also increase their performance in the mathematics skills in order to bring up their test score yearly. The school wants to bring the scores up by 10 percent this school year. They feel the best ways to help increase scores in to use more technology. The school has purchased many new programs in math; reading and writing that will help teach students critical thinking skills and bring up the students overall creative writing. With the use of these programs and the use of the technology in the classroom, the students should be able to increase their overall test scores. Performance Gap: The students at Gilbert Elementary are performing below expectations according the Westest 2 scores. Upon completing, the additional training in technology and utilizing the new resources the school has purchased as well as with additional training for the teachers the school feels the students willmeet AYP this school year. Cause Analysis: The people in the area feel the low job market has hurt the school’s performance. They also feel the use of technology is not important within the school. Most of the people want the school to go back to “The Basic, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.” The reason this gap exist is due to the education of the parents and the community as well as the teachers. The school has some wonderful programs that will help develop critical thinking skills, but the teachers do not want to use the programs. This is due to the lack of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. In addition, the new Westest 2 is designed around the use of technology. As teacher read the information on the Westest, they realized technology had to be integrated in order for the students to pass the new Westest 2. Organizational History and Background Goals. Gilbert Elementary School will meet projected scores in mathematics in all subgroups including low economic students as well as special education. The students will also meet the project scores in reading and language arts. Technology will be used in all classrooms in order to help the students show an improvement. History. Gilbert, West Virginia is an old mining town. The school and community depended onmining. The first grade school was built in 1922, later it was moved to the old high school in 1948. The school always had high expectations for the students. Sports was important aswell as a good education. The schools started out with a population around 150 and later grew to a population of 800. By the late 1970’s coal, mining had slowed down and the population of the town as well of the school went down. Coal was the drawing force behind the town,once the coal mining was gone, the people started leaving. The people who stayed had very little income. This is what has lead to the high poverty rate in the town as well as the school. Mission and Vision. Gilbert Elementary holds high expectations while instilling a sense of pride, creativity, and self-discipline in its students. We embrace the wisdom of life-long learning for our students and faculty. Incorporating with these are good citizenship, moral character, and mutual respect in themselves and others. Three Intervention Strategies Low-end intervention. The lowcost solution would be to offer a professional development course for the staffon how to use the Mimio and LCD projector in the classroom. This would be conducted by the Technology Specialist and would be offered after work hours with a small stipend for each teacher. This would include how to develop lessons on critical thinking skills as well as math skills. The lessons would be taken back to the classroom and used in order to help improved the overall test scores. Middle end intervention. The medium cost solution would be to offer a professional development course for the staff on the use of Mimio, laptop and LCD Project by bringing in a professional from the company who developed the product that was purchased for the school. The Technology Specialist would provide the teachers a monthly training after school. The teachers would work in gradelevels to develop lesson plans for Reading and Math using the technology. In addition, the teachers will be provided the training after school in order to receive a stipend. In addition, the teachers would have amonthly grade level meeting in order to develop additional lessons to help increase the use of technology and increase the overall test scores. High-end intervention. The high cost would include the professional development training from the Mimio Company at the beginning of school. In addition, the teachers would be required to attend a three-day summer institute on the use of technology in the classroom,which would be held at Charleston, WV at the Marriott, where instruction would be provided on different levels of technology. The county would pay the teachers to stay at the Marriott for the three days of training. In addition,each teacher would be provided a $ 500.00 stipend and three college credit hours through Marshall University. In order for the teacher to receive the 3 hour credit they would need to develop a lesson plan in using the Smartboard, laptop and LCD projector in the subject areas of Reading, Math,Science and Social Studies. These plans would have to be used within the school year. Before the lessons were taught, the teacher would have to give a pretest and after completing the lesson give a posttest to the students. The teachers would have to analyze the test results to see if students learning had improved with the integrating of the technology. The information from the test would be compiled and turned in for the overall credit from Marshall. Selected Intervention Strategy After careful consideration, the strategy I will be usingfor my PII is the medium cost. With this, I will be able to provide the training in which the teachers will need to help bring up the overall Westest2 scores.
Low-cost strategy is cost effective,but is not effective to the teachers. With this strategy, the teachers would need to stay after school for the professional development. This could not be a requirement because teachers cannot be made to stay after school unless it is written in their contracts. In addition, the professional development training would be good for all teachers, but there would not be any follow-up sessions to ensure the teachers were using the technology in their classrooms to help improve the test scores. High-cost strategy One of the limitations of this strategy it is not cost effective; in order to complete this strategy we would have to apply for a grant. Yet, one of the strengths ofthis strategy is, the teachers would get more grade level training, and would be able to use this information in their classroom. In addition, the teachers would have to integrate the technology in their classrooms in order to receivethe credit through Marshall. In addition, the teachers would have to complete a pretest and posttest with their students and compile the data to see if there was an improvement in the overall test scores. The downfall of this strategy is the same as the low-end strategy; the county cannot require teachers to attend summer academies. The cost would be too greatfor the county and it would require getting facilitators to teach the academy. The overall reason this plan has been rejected is due to the high cost of conducting this type of training. Medium-cost strategy. Through interviews, discussions, and surveys with the administrator, teachers and staff, I have learned 35% of the Reading Language Arts grade comes from the WV Writing part of the Westest 2 (Appendix A & B). This test is designed to go along with the WV Writes program used in the school system this is an online writing program.This program needs to be integrated into the classroom to raise test grades onthe Reading Language Arts Westest 2. The WV Writes program is a program, which is adopted by the state of West Virginia to help reach the 21st century learning skills (Paine, 2009). If the program is not used in the classroom, the students have a lower chance of getting a high score on the Westest2 Reading Language Arts test. With this information, the school has decided to concentrate on developing a program to help incorporate the WV Writes program in the classrooms. By using the middle-end strategy the administrator, staff, and teachers feel this is the best strategy that will fit our needs and our budget (21st Century Learning Skills And Technology Tools - Teach21 Search Page, 2011). As you can see, this strategy incorporates key elements from both the low-cost and the high-cost strategies. Although it does cost more than the low-cost strategy, the money for this strategy can be obtained through Title 1 funds as well as grants if need be. The Title 1 program feels Reading and Math scores can be improved with technology as well as creative writing. They have set aside money to incorporate training for technology in order to improve the overall Westest scores. The money will bring this program together, help increase the use of technology in the classroom, and increase the overall test scores on the Westest2. Project Manager’s Role. The Project Manager will be responsible for delegating responsibility of the “major task” (Donaldson, J., Smaldino, S. & Pearson, R., 2008). In addition, the project manager will be over the communicating with the clients as well as developing a budget. It will also be the responsibility of the project manager to keep everything running smoothly. The project manager must also work with any delays that might arise, because delays will cause the project to run over budget and cause the client to get upset. As you can see, this will become my job as project manager. Resource Manager. The Resource manager will be responsible for the delivery of the project. The resources that will be needed for this project are the technology specialist, and financial specialist. The technology specialist will be responsible for getting all of the equipment needed and keeping it up to date. They will also be responsible for setting up additional training each month for the teachers. In addition, the Technology Specialist will be responsible for overseeing the lesson plans that are used within the classroom. The financial specialist, who can be the school accountant, will be responsible for keeping track of all bills and well as paying the stipend for the teachers. They will also have to keep track of the funds used for the project. In addition,Title 1 staff and school administrators will be responsible to securing the funds needed for the project as well as securing professional development time needed for the teachers as well as the staff. Finally, the school administrator will keep a data spread sheet of the use of lesson plans and the interventions used. Once a month a grade level team meeting will be scheduled to discuss the overall outcome of the lessons being implemented and make changes as needed. Delivery System Management. The delivery system management will be in-source programs as well as the use of the internet to integrate the use of the programs that are being implemented. As well as any additional programs, the teachers will need to integrate technology in their classroom. In addition, the Technology Specialist will provide additional training to the teachers and staff on the tools available within their classrooms. Information Management. The information management for this project will be the use of Google Application for Education. Using this program the technology specialist will be able to create a wiki for each grade level. The teachers will be responsible to place their lesson plans on the wiki each month in order to have their grade level evaluated and use the lesson plans. The teachers and staff will also be able to communicate through a blog. Inaddition, each teacher must set up an email address through Google Application. Financial and Budget Information: The plan that was chosen was the medium-endstrategy. With this plan, it calls for the guest presenter of Mimio to come in and demonstrate how to use this interactive whiteboard and how to incorporate the lessons into the classroom.Then each month the Technology Specialist will hold monthly meetings with theteachers after school to help develop lesson plans to incorporate in theclassroom. The presenter will be paid $2500.00 for a one-time visit. Next, theTechnology Specialist will train the teachers once a month after school for atotal budget of 6250.00. Supplies willbe purchased through quill for a cost of $1500.00 and food and drinks for thetraining will cost around $ 550.00, with a total budget around $10,800.00 peryear. (Appendix C) Evaluation andAssessment:
Theproject evaluations will be completed through both formative and summativeprocess. One way in which the projectwill be evaluated will be through a weekly walk-through by the principal andassistant principal. Formative assessmentwill be evaluated once a month through a teacher survey and through theclassroom observations. The principalwill be looking for the integration of the skills that the students are weak in(Appendix E). In addition, the lessonplans will be evaluated for the use of technology. Through this evaluation, the principal alongwith project leaders will use these results help to guide the decision- makingof the project. In addition, the reviewof 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, the baseline scores will be determined by theWestest 2 year 2010-2011. Westest 2 will be compared with the 2011-2012 Westest2 to see if there is a 10 percent improvement. If a significant improvement is shown, the PII will continue into thesecond year. The summative evaluationwill be completed in May; this evaluation will come from the Westest 2 throughthe overall percent of increase or decrease. In addition, the review of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, Westest 2 will becompared with the 2011-2012 Westest 2 to see if there is a 10 percentimprovement. If a significantimprovement is shown, the PII will continue into the second year (Appendix F).
Reference: 21st Century Learning Skills And Technology Tools -Teach21 Search Page. (2011).Retrieved May 1, 2011, from West Virginia Department ofEducation: http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/21C/21C.cfm?tsele1=2&tsele2=55 Chevalier,R. (2007). A manager’s guide to improving workplace performance. NewYork: AmericanManagement Association. Donaldson, J., Smaldino, S. & Pearson, R. (2008).Managing. In A. &. Janusezewski, Educational Technology (p. 185). New York:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mimio. (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Mimio: __http://www.mimio.dymo.com/en-__ US.aspx Paine, S. (2009). Closingthe Achievement Gap Report for the 21st Century. Retrieved May 1, 2011, from West Virginia Department of Education: http://wvde.state.wv.us/data/cag2009.pdf Quill . (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Quill.com: http://www.quill.com/content/iw/adv/techspecials/default.aspx?cm_mmc=SEM-_- Google-_-Tech%20Weekly%20Promo-_-spotlight AppendixA Gilbert ElementaryTechnology Survey
Directions- Please read each question mark the answer thatbest describes how you use technology and how you feel about the new technologyrequirements in West Virginia School Systems
Howdo you feel about communicating through technology, this would include emailand instant messaging?
_Iwould prefer to receive information through email or instant messaging.
_Iwould prefer to receive information through messages left in my box outside myclassroom door.
How well do you know and use the technology inyour classroom?
_I am comfortable using the technology in my classroom.
_I do not feel comfortable using the technology in my classroom.
Do you integrate technology into you lessonsif so how often?
_Yes,daily
_Yes,at least once a week
_Yes,at least twice a week
_No
Do you feel by integrating technology inReading, Writing and Math, that test scores would come up or go down?
_I feel the test scores would come up on the Westest2 and the Benchmark Test
_Ifeel the test scores would not go up.
_Ifeel there would be no change in the test scores.
Would you be willing to attend workshops andtrainings after school to help you learn how to integrate technology in theclassroom?
_I would be willing to attend workshops after school with a stipend.
_Iwould not be willing to attend workshops before or after school with or with astipend.
Please provide any additional information onhow you feel technology will influence your teaching as well as your students.Do you feel technology is important for bringing up test scores?
Summary of Results of Survey andDiscussion with Staff members: Thesurvey results showed that teachers were not comfortable using technology intheir classroom. With the new technologystandard required in the state of West Virginia, the teachers have to be ableto integrate technology in order to help raise the test scores. One problem the administrator and stafftalked about with the use of the West Virginia Writing Roadmap program notbeing integrated into the classroom. Last year’s Reading Language Arts Westest 2 Writing grade was low. This year the state has developed a new writingprogram, which has to be integrated into the classroom. The teachers and staff are not willing tointegrate technology in the classroom, so they administrator feels the newwriting program will not be incorporate. Next, the staff and teachers feel moretraining needs to be offered in order to show them how to incorporate and usethe technology to help improve the test scores. As you can see, there is a lot of training that needs to be offered forthe teachers. One of the web sites, which helped the committee make theirdecision on choosing this strategy, is www.wvde.edu. Survey Results,
a. 75 % b. 25%
a. 30% b. 70%
a. 30% b. 30% c. 30% d. 10%
a. 60% b. 30% c. 10%
a. 80% b. 20%
The teacher gave different reasons as towhy technology is or is not important to use in the classroom. Overall, theteachers feel the students would do better on the Westest if technology wereincorporated in the classroom. TheWestest 2 incorporates 21st century learning skills, which were designedby the state of West Virginia. Ourstudents are not using 21st skills if technology is not beingincorporated in the classroom. Teachers feel they need more training in orderto incorporate the technology in which they have in their classroom.
Appendix B
Interview of Mrs.White Principal of Gilbert Elementary School
Do you feel students are bringing up their WestestScores?
Yes,I feel the improvement of Westest scores shows that the student’s skills andknowledge in technology has greatly improved analysis of real-world situation,which are important on the new Westest.
Whatdo you feel is the best way to bring up the Westest scores?
Thebest way to bring up test scores is through integration of technology withinthe classroom. Along, with the use ofnew software to go along with the skills that are being tested on the Westest,due to the Westest is based mainly on the 21st skills.
Dothe teachers need to integrate technology into their lessons, in order to helpbring up the overall Westest scores?
Yes,the integration of technology can and will improve Westest scores. Not only Westest but also the skills neededfor their grade level. Technology buildsthe knowledge needed for performance on basic skills.
Canthe integration of technology increase student’s growth of achievement?
Yes,I feel it can. In a study ofcomprehensive effort to integrate technology shows an increase in test scoresrelated to technology. The curriculum isreinforced and with teacher, instruction and achievement tests used to evaluatethe students performance. Gains areshown in students test scores on the Westest with targeted objectives using thecorrect software, instruction and benchmarking.
Do you feel integrating technology into theclassroom will build reading skills?
Technologycan definitely help students become better learned. Using technology can makelearning more enjoyable and engaging to the students. Technology is paving theway toward the future.
Principal Assistant Principal School Secretary Technology Specialist Classroom Teachers
Technology
All classrooms have Mimio’s, Laptops, and LCD projects 3 Digital Cameras in School to check out District network throughout building with wireless for laptops.
Software/Web Resources
Mimio Software Microsoft Office Suite Google Docs, which is free online service. Internet resources West Virginia Writes Odyssey Acuity
Appendix E FormativeEvaluation Walk-throughevaluations
Lou Ann Morris
A00128941
lou.morris@waldenu.edu
EDUC-7103 Leading and ManagingEducational Technology
Dr. Timothy Powell
Walden University
May 20, 2011
Improving Westest Scores throughTechnology
Gilbert Elementary School
ExecutiveSummary
Since technology is a word defining almost everything around us, it makes our lives easier. It also provides us with easy, more effective solutions to everyday living. Without technology,we could not communicate quickly, find important information, and many things we take for granted. The internet is an ocean of information, which is at our hands at all times. Through the internet, the world can be better brought to our students providing schools benefits for higher education. It lays a strong foundation of a successful professional life of an individual. Through technology, learning is always present to be enjoyable when integrated into classroom and learning. With technology we as professionals, can and do provide a desired performances needed for the success of all our students. Technology will provide higher test scores, enjoyable learning, and offer a successful professional life of an individual. Technology has many benefits. Let us all prosper from the benefits together.
Problem Summary
The expectation of the West Virginia Department of Education is for all teachers to incorporate 21st century learning skills within the next five years. In order to satisfy this objective each county is to implement the technology training needed to enhance the WestVirginia CSO’s.
The state of West Virginia has developed a new Westest. The test was first implemented in 2009. Mingo County had very few schools that completed the test due to a major flood that closed the schools for the remainder of the 2009 school year; because of the closure, the school has limited test data available. The only test data in which they have available is the 2009-2010 school year.
Westest 2 is more rigorous in Math and Reading. The new test is designed toward higher level thinking skills. The state feels that students can perform better with the use of technology. They also feel technology is the backbone behind the new skills. The state wants every teacher to use technology in order to help the students increase their test scores.
The teachers at Gilbert Elementary need to increase their use of technology in order to help bring the test scores up of the Low Economic Students. The school has Smartboards, Elmo’s, and LCD projectors in each classroom, as well as four computers per classroom. The school also has two computer labs plus two mobile labs. The teachers in the upper grades are more willing to use this technology, but the teachers in the lower grades feel as if they need to have more training in the use of technology in order to incorporate it within their curriculum Overall, the school would like to increase the training of the teachers so they will be comfortable using the technology as well as teach our parents the importance of the use of technology at home. The school will be offering monthly training to the teachers in order to help motivate on use of education sites and technology available in the school.
Backgroundof Organization
Gilbert Elementary was constructed in 1951 and opened as Gilbert High School. A new addition was added to the school in 1964. The building was later changed to Gilbert Junior High and then to Gilbert Middle School. Renovations were done on the building in 2003, which included the addition of a new wing containing four new classrooms, a new computer lab, a new kitchen and cafeteria and a new office area. In addition, each classroom was given a new air conditioning unit. In 2004, Gilbert Grade School, Cline Grade School and two grade levels of Gilbert Middle School were merged into what is now Gilbert Elementary. In 2007, an old shower room was turned into a classroom for the Special Needs students and in 2009 after the flood and extensive rebuilding was completed on the school. The school is located on School Road, Gilbert, West Virginia. The school has a population of 437 students and of those students, 67% are living in poverty. The website ofthe school is http://www.gilbertelementary.us/and the county website: http://mingoboe.us/. The annual reports are located on the county site.
Stakeholders and Decision-Makers.
Key People Affect: Teachers Students Parents Administrators Community Key People that make decisions: Phyllis White, Principal Donna England, Assistant Principal Title 1 StaffKey Personnel: Donna Ellis, Reading Specialist LuAnn Browning, Technology Specialist
Patrick Billups, County MediaSpecialist
Actual Current Performance. After examining trend information from previous Westest and Benchmark data, the school feels they need to focus on the Low Economic Students in math and reading/language arts skills. The Special needs students are also a concern and will continue to have needs addressed in Tier interventions. Westest2 scores shows low performance in math with the score of 37% and read/languagearts score of 39% within the low economic area. Westest 2 was implemented in 2009, the scores in math fell. The students who were making mastery on Westest 1 were now making part-mastery. If the scores keep, falling Gilbert Elementary will not make AYP this year.
Desired Performance: Gilbert Elementary Schools will increase academic performancein writing and all reading/language art skills. They will also increase their performance in the mathematics skills in order to bring up their test score yearly. The school wants to bring the scores up by 10 percent this school year. They feel the best ways to help increase scores in to use more technology. The school has purchased many new programs in math; reading and writing that will help teach students critical thinking skills and bring up the students overall creative writing. With the use of these programs and the use of the technology in the classroom, the students should be able to increase their overall test scores.
Performance Gap: The students at Gilbert Elementary are performing below expectations according the Westest 2 scores. Upon completing, the additional training in technology and utilizing the new resources the school has purchased as well as with additional training for the teachers the school feels the students willmeet AYP this school year.
Cause Analysis: The people in the area feel the low job market has hurt the school’s performance. They also feel the use of technology is not important within the school. Most of the people want the school to go back to “The Basic, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.” The reason this gap exist is due to the education of the parents and the community as well as the teachers. The school has some wonderful programs that will help develop critical thinking skills, but the teachers do not want to use the programs. This is due to the lack of how to integrate technology into the curriculum. In addition, the new Westest 2 is designed around the use of technology. As teacher read the information on the Westest, they realized technology had to be integrated in order for the students to pass the new Westest 2.
Organizational History and Background
Goals. Gilbert Elementary School will meet projected scores in mathematics in all subgroups including low economic students as well as special education. The students will also meet the project scores in reading and language arts. Technology will be used in all classrooms in order to help the students show an improvement.
History. Gilbert, West Virginia is an old mining town. The school and community depended onmining. The first grade school was built in 1922, later it was moved to the old high school in 1948. The school always had high expectations for the students. Sports was important aswell as a good education. The schools started out with a population around 150 and later grew to a population of 800. By the late 1970’s coal, mining had slowed down and the population of the town as well of the school went down. Coal was the drawing force behind the town,once the coal mining was gone, the people started leaving. The people who stayed had very little income. This is what has lead to the high poverty rate in the town as well as the school.
Mission and Vision. Gilbert Elementary holds high expectations while instilling a sense of pride, creativity, and self-discipline in its students. We embrace the wisdom of life-long learning for our students and faculty. Incorporating with these are good citizenship, moral character, and mutual respect in themselves and others.
Three Intervention Strategies
Low-end intervention. The lowcost solution would be to offer a professional development course for the staffon how to use the Mimio and LCD projector in the classroom. This would be conducted by the Technology Specialist and would be offered after work hours with a small stipend for each teacher. This would include how to develop lessons on critical thinking skills as well as math skills. The lessons would be taken back to the classroom and used in order to help improved the overall test scores.
Middle end intervention. The medium cost solution would be to offer a professional development course for the staff on the use of Mimio, laptop and LCD Project by bringing in a professional from the company who developed the product that was purchased for the school. The Technology Specialist would provide the teachers a monthly training after school. The teachers would work in gradelevels to develop lesson plans for Reading and Math using the technology. In addition, the teachers will be provided the training after school in order to receive a stipend. In addition, the teachers would have amonthly grade level meeting in order to develop additional lessons to help increase the use of technology and increase the overall test scores.
High-end intervention. The high cost would include the professional development training from the Mimio Company at the beginning of school. In addition, the teachers would be required to attend a three-day summer institute on the use of technology in the classroom,which would be held at Charleston, WV at the Marriott, where instruction would be provided on different levels of technology. The county would pay the teachers to stay at the Marriott for the three days of training. In addition,each teacher would be provided a
$ 500.00 stipend and three college credit hours through Marshall University. In order for the teacher to receive the 3 hour credit they would need to develop a lesson plan in using the Smartboard, laptop and LCD projector in the subject areas of Reading, Math,Science and Social Studies. These plans would have to be used within the school year. Before the lessons were taught, the teacher would have to give a pretest and after completing the lesson give a posttest to the students. The teachers would have to analyze the test results to see if students learning had improved with the integrating of the technology. The information from the test would be compiled and turned in for the overall credit from Marshall.
Selected Intervention Strategy
After careful consideration, the strategy I will be usingfor my PII is the medium cost. With this, I will be able to provide the training in which the teachers will need to help bring up the overall Westest2 scores.
Low-cost strategy is cost effective,but is not effective to the teachers. With this strategy, the teachers would need to stay after school for the professional development. This could not be a requirement because teachers cannot be made to stay after school unless it is written in their contracts. In addition, the professional development training would be good for all teachers, but there would not be any follow-up sessions to ensure the teachers were using the technology in their classrooms to help improve the test scores.
High-cost strategy One of the limitations of this strategy it is not cost effective; in order to complete this strategy we would have to apply for a grant. Yet, one of the strengths ofthis strategy is, the teachers would get more grade level training, and would be able to use this information in their classroom. In addition, the teachers would have to integrate the technology in their classrooms in order to receivethe credit through Marshall. In addition, the teachers would have to complete a pretest and posttest with their students and compile the data to see if there was an improvement in the overall test scores.
The downfall of this strategy is the same as the low-end strategy; the county cannot require teachers to attend summer academies. The cost would be too greatfor the county and it would require getting facilitators to teach the academy. The overall reason this plan has been rejected is due to the high cost of conducting this type of training.
Medium-cost strategy. Through interviews, discussions, and surveys with the administrator, teachers and staff, I have learned 35% of the Reading Language Arts grade comes from the WV Writing part of the Westest 2 (Appendix A & B). This test is designed to go along with the WV Writes program used in the school system this is an online writing program.This program needs to be integrated into the classroom to raise test grades onthe Reading Language Arts Westest 2. The WV Writes program is a program, which is adopted by the state of West Virginia to help reach the 21st century learning skills (Paine, 2009). If the program is not used in the classroom, the students have a lower chance of getting a high score on the Westest2 Reading Language Arts test. With this information, the school has decided to concentrate on developing a program to help incorporate the WV Writes program in the classrooms. By using the middle-end strategy the administrator, staff, and teachers feel this is the best strategy that will fit our needs and our budget (21st Century Learning Skills And Technology Tools - Teach21 Search Page, 2011). As you can see, this strategy incorporates key elements from both the low-cost and the high-cost strategies. Although it does cost more than the low-cost strategy, the money for this strategy can be obtained through Title 1 funds as well as grants if need be. The Title 1 program feels Reading and Math scores can be improved with technology as well as creative writing. They have set aside money to incorporate training for technology in order to improve the overall Westest scores. The money will bring this program together, help increase the use of technology in the classroom, and increase the overall test scores on the Westest2.
Project Manager’s Role. The Project Manager will be responsible for delegating responsibility of the “major task” (Donaldson, J., Smaldino, S. & Pearson, R., 2008). In addition, the project manager will be over the communicating with the clients as well as developing a budget. It will also be the responsibility of the project manager to keep everything running smoothly. The project manager must also work with any delays that might arise, because delays will cause the project to run over budget and cause the client to get upset. As you can see, this will become my job as project manager.
Resource Manager. The Resource manager will be responsible for the delivery of the project. The resources that will be needed for this project are the technology specialist, and financial specialist. The technology specialist will be responsible for getting all of the equipment needed and keeping it up to date. They will also be responsible for setting up additional training each month for the teachers. In addition, the Technology Specialist will be responsible for overseeing the lesson plans that are used within the classroom. The financial specialist, who can be the school accountant, will be responsible for keeping track of all bills and well as paying the stipend for the teachers. They will also have to keep track of the funds used for the project. In addition,Title 1 staff and school administrators will be responsible to securing the funds needed for the project as well as securing professional development time needed for the teachers as well as the staff. Finally, the school administrator will keep a data spread sheet of the use of lesson plans and the interventions used. Once a month a grade level team meeting will be scheduled to discuss the overall outcome of the lessons being implemented and make changes as needed.
Delivery System Management. The delivery system management will be in-source programs as well as the use of the internet to integrate the use of the programs that are being implemented. As well as any additional programs, the teachers will need to integrate technology in their classroom. In addition, the Technology Specialist will provide additional training to the teachers and staff on the tools available within their classrooms.
Information Management. The information management for this project will be the use of Google Application for Education. Using this program the technology specialist will be able to create a wiki for each grade level. The teachers will be responsible to place their lesson plans on the wiki each month in order to have their grade level evaluated and use the lesson plans. The teachers and staff will also be able to communicate through a blog. Inaddition, each teacher must set up an email address through Google Application.
Financial and Budget Information: The plan that was chosen was the medium-endstrategy. With this plan, it calls for the guest presenter of Mimio to come in and demonstrate how to use this interactive whiteboard and how to incorporate the lessons into the classroom.Then each month the Technology Specialist will hold monthly meetings with theteachers after school to help develop lesson plans to incorporate in theclassroom. The presenter will be paid $2500.00 for a one-time visit. Next, theTechnology Specialist will train the teachers once a month after school for atotal budget of 6250.00. Supplies willbe purchased through quill for a cost of $1500.00 and food and drinks for thetraining will cost around $ 550.00, with a total budget around $10,800.00 peryear. (Appendix C)
Evaluation andAssessment:
Theproject evaluations will be completed through both formative and summativeprocess. One way in which the projectwill be evaluated will be through a weekly walk-through by the principal andassistant principal. Formative assessmentwill be evaluated once a month through a teacher survey and through theclassroom observations. The principalwill be looking for the integration of the skills that the students are weak in(Appendix E). In addition, the lessonplans will be evaluated for the use of technology. Through this evaluation, the principal alongwith project leaders will use these results help to guide the decision- makingof the project. In addition, the reviewof 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, the baseline scores will be determined by theWestest 2 year 2010-2011. Westest 2 will be compared with the 2011-2012 Westest2 to see if there is a 10 percent improvement. If a significant improvement is shown, the PII will continue into thesecond year. The summative evaluationwill be completed in May; this evaluation will come from the Westest 2 throughthe overall percent of increase or decrease. In addition, the review of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, Westest 2 will becompared with the 2011-2012 Westest 2 to see if there is a 10 percentimprovement. If a significantimprovement is shown, the PII will continue into the second year (Appendix F).
Reference:
21st Century Learning Skills And Technology Tools -Teach21 Search Page. (2011).Retrieved
May 1, 2011, from West Virginia Department ofEducation:
http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/21C/21C.cfm?tsele1=2&tsele2=55
Chevalier,R. (2007). A manager’s guide to improving workplace performance. NewYork:
AmericanManagement Association.
Donaldson, J., Smaldino, S. & Pearson, R. (2008).Managing. In A. &. Janusezewski,
Educational Technology (p. 185). New York:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mimio. (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Mimio: __http://www.mimio.dymo.com/en-__
US.aspx
Paine, S. (2009). Closingthe Achievement Gap Report for the 21st Century. Retrieved May 1,
2011, from West Virginia Department of Education:
http://wvde.state.wv.us/data/cag2009.pdf
Quill . (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Quill.com:
http://www.quill.com/content/iw/adv/techspecials/default.aspx?cm_mmc=SEM-_-
Google-_-Tech%20Weekly%20Promo-_-spotlight
AppendixA
Gilbert ElementaryTechnology Survey
Directions- Please read each question mark the answer thatbest describes how you use technology and how you feel about the new technologyrequirements in West Virginia School Systems
- Howdo you feel about communicating through technology, this would include emailand instant messaging?
- _Iwould prefer to receive information through email or instant messaging.
- _Iwould prefer to receive information through messages left in my box outside myclassroom door.
- How well do you know and use the technology inyour classroom?
- _I am comfortable using the technology in my classroom.
- _I do not feel comfortable using the technology in my classroom.
- Do you integrate technology into you lessonsif so how often?
- _Yes,daily
- _Yes,at least once a week
- _Yes,at least twice a week
- _No
- Do you feel by integrating technology inReading, Writing and Math, that test scores would come up or go down?
- _I feel the test scores would come up on the Westest2 and the Benchmark Test
- _Ifeel the test scores would not go up.
- _Ifeel there would be no change in the test scores.
- Would you be willing to attend workshops andtrainings after school to help you learn how to integrate technology in theclassroom?
- _I would be willing to attend workshops after school with a stipend.
- _Iwould not be willing to attend workshops before or after school with or with astipend.
- Please provide any additional information onhow you feel technology will influence your teaching as well as your students.Do you feel technology is important for bringing up test scores?
Summary of Results of Survey andDiscussion with Staff members:Thesurvey results showed that teachers were not comfortable using technology intheir classroom. With the new technologystandard required in the state of West Virginia, the teachers have to be ableto integrate technology in order to help raise the test scores. One problem the administrator and stafftalked about with the use of the West Virginia Writing Roadmap program notbeing integrated into the classroom. Last year’s Reading Language Arts Westest 2 Writing grade was low. This year the state has developed a new writingprogram, which has to be integrated into the classroom. The teachers and staff are not willing tointegrate technology in the classroom, so they administrator feels the newwriting program will not be incorporate. Next, the staff and teachers feel moretraining needs to be offered in order to show them how to incorporate and usethe technology to help improve the test scores. As you can see, there is a lot of training that needs to be offered forthe teachers. One of the web sites, which helped the committee make theirdecision on choosing this strategy, is www.wvde.edu.
Survey Results,
- a. 75 % b. 25%
- a. 30% b. 70%
- a. 30% b. 30% c. 30% d. 10%
- a. 60% b. 30% c. 10%
- a. 80% b. 20%
- The teacher gave different reasons as towhy technology is or is not important to use in the classroom. Overall, theteachers feel the students would do better on the Westest if technology wereincorporated in the classroom. TheWestest 2 incorporates 21st century learning skills, which were designedby the state of West Virginia. Ourstudents are not using 21st skills if technology is not beingincorporated in the classroom. Teachers feel they need more training in orderto incorporate the technology in which they have in their classroom.
Appendix BInterview of Mrs.White Principal of Gilbert Elementary School
- Do you feel students are bringing up their WestestScores?
Yes,I feel the improvement of Westest scores shows that the student’s skills andknowledge in technology has greatly improved analysis of real-world situation,which are important on the new Westest.- Whatdo you feel is the best way to bring up the Westest scores?
Thebest way to bring up test scores is through integration of technology withinthe classroom. Along, with the use ofnew software to go along with the skills that are being tested on the Westest,due to the Westest is based mainly on the 21st skills.- Dothe teachers need to integrate technology into their lessons, in order to helpbring up the overall Westest scores?
Yes,the integration of technology can and will improve Westest scores. Not only Westest but also the skills neededfor their grade level. Technology buildsthe knowledge needed for performance on basic skills.- Canthe integration of technology increase student’s growth of achievement?
Yes,I feel it can. In a study ofcomprehensive effort to integrate technology shows an increase in test scoresrelated to technology. The curriculum isreinforced and with teacher, instruction and achievement tests used to evaluatethe students performance. Gains areshown in students test scores on the Westest with targeted objectives using thecorrect software, instruction and benchmarking.- Do you feel integrating technology into theclassroom will build reading skills?
Technologycan definitely help students become better learned. Using technology can makelearning more enjoyable and engaging to the students. Technology is paving theway toward the future.AppendixC
Table 1 TentativeBudget
http://mimio-boards.com/index.html
$ 6250.00
$ 500.00
$ 250.00
$550.00
Table 2 TechnicalInformation
Assistant Principal
School Secretary
Technology Specialist
Classroom Teachers
3 Digital Cameras in School to check out
District network throughout building with wireless for laptops.
Microsoft Office Suite
Google Docs, which is free online service.
Internet resources
West Virginia Writes
Odyssey
Acuity
FormativeEvaluation
Walk-throughevaluations
Appendix F
Summative Assessment Check List